The Battalion
Page 9
Thursday • March 20, 1997
ggies
lelping
ithers
^ pring break is usually heralded
^as a time for college students
) to head to the beach, but this
irnot every student spent the
ak pickling their brains on South
Padre Island.
]ohn Lemons
Engineering
graduate student
Columnist SomeAg-
ir-^T i gies partic-
ipated in ser
vice projects,
91 ▼ generously
V ■ " donating their
V time to help
1 others. These
students set
an example
everyone
should follow.
Their ac
tions prove
:most important lessons in life
snot learned in the classroom.
IWelve members of Aggie Habitat
Humanity spent spring break in
nchburg, Virginia. They partic-
ited in Habitat for Humanity’s
llegiate Challenge, where stu-
[ntsfrom universities across the
untry traveled at their own ex-
nse to build homes.
These students worked alongside
ilies who will eventually live in
se homes.
Naomi Hernandez, junior envi
ronmental design, said working
th the families was an eye-open-
|g experience.
j'T worry about tests and projects,”
««rnandez said, “but these people
^“irry about where they’re going to
e, what they’re going to eat.”
Most college students have
out as much perspective as a
IrTS officer has friends. Therefore,
Mese are the lessons students need
to leant most.
The academic bubble surround-
TexasA&M obscures what is im-
n' Epbrtantwith what is merely urgent,
wades, homework and commit-
8#'Wits dominate students’ lives
We the surrounding world must
Stalwith more important problems.
By serving the less fortunate,
students put scholastic pressures in
llieirproper perspective. The stress
taused by studying for finals is in-
tignificant when compared to the
stress of not having a roof over
IJue’shead.
Ariana Henty, a freshman busi-
tess major, said the trip taught her to
^grateful for what she has and that
ludents gain in giving to others.
“They (the families whose homes
ere being built) gave us tenfold
hat we could have given them,"
|pity said.
Perhaps the most valuable bene-
tfor students serving is character,
lany students’ mothers have tried
igetthem to do household chores
(claiming it builds character. Un-
re the endurance chores encour-
le, service teaches compassion,
ligence and gratitude.
These lessons cannot be learned
[lecture halls, yet they are at least
^important as a diploma.
Students do not need to travel to ben-
itother people. Opportunities to serve
fOl found within our own community.
In a matter of weeks, Student Govern-
ent will hold its annual Big Event, where
cr 5,000 students participate in service
ejects throughout Bryan and College
Jtion. If manual labor doesn't suit you,
ganizations like Elder Aid offer the
ance to visit with elderly shut-ins. The
azos Valley Food Pantry offers a meal in
soup kitchen every day and can always
lea helping hand. These charitable or-
nizations and numerous others in this
y desperately need volunteers.
I When Aggies enter the public sphere
I serve others, they become ambas-
Idors for Texas A&M University. The
Iputation Texas A&M gains from Aggies
[to volunteer their time and services far
Iceeds any reputation created by win
ing on the football field.
I Bryan and College Station revolve
ound A&M. With all of the local restau-
nts and business catering to students,
is sometimes easy to forget we share
is community with people who have
•thing to do with A&M. A&M could not
ist without these people. Students
ust give back to those who make their
lucation possible.
The students who spent vacation
rving others deserve recognition and
imiration. Their selfless example is a
Iniinder college is more than just a time
afllpickup academic knowledge. It is an
•portunity to build the character that
n only be developed by meeting the
•eds of others.
Smokin' in the boy's womb
Pregnant women neglect rights of chilci n , n w i ten smoking
E prh vpar thp = tinine in the newborns were health oftheirnewborns. Although al- <3
<
.
Asst. Opinion Editor
James Francis
Sophomore
English mUjor
ach year the
ozone layer
(debilitates a
little more, ani
mal-inhabited
forests become
mini-malls and
nature’s own play
ing cards of
droughts, floods
and other disas
ters wreck havoc
on the environ
ment. Today, the
Earth finds itself in
a downward spiral of afflictions,
but the land itself is not the only
entity being threatened — its citi
zens are dying and killing them
selves by delving into destructive
health practices.
Moreover, there is one group of
people at risk more than any other
— newborns whose mothers par
take in delinquent health habits.
A recent Associated Press report
showed children born to mothers
who smoked during their pregnan
cy come into the world with nico
tine levels akin to adult smokers.
Dr. Claude Hanet, of St. Luc Uni
versity Hospital in Brussels, was quot
ed in the AP report as saying, “The
baby of a smoking mother should be
considered to be an ex-smoker.”
Although smoking during preg
nancy is reported to be on the de
cline, this occurrence is far from a
relic of the past.
Dr. Laurence M. Galanti of
Mont-Godinne University Hospital
in Namur, Belgium, recently pre
sented a study to a group of re
searchers and doctors at a meeting
of the American College of Cardiol
ogy. He focused on the effects of
smoking during pregnancy upon
an unborn child.
The study involved 273 children,
139 which were babies one to three
days old. During the project, re
searchers tested the infants’ urine
streams for cotinine, the substance
which remains in the body after
nicotine breaks down. Levels of co
tinine in the
found to be about 550
nanograms per milligram of
urine. This is almost the exact
same level of cotinine found in
the mothers’ body systems.
In this way, not only are
pregnant women contributing
to their health decline, but
their children will be forced to
face a life of extenuating prob
lems stemming from smoking.
It has been proven a new-
born is more likely to develop
lung and respiratory problems,
and possibly fall victim to Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome once ex
posed to tobacco in the womb.
While all this information may
seem disturbing and sad, the full
responsibility for a newborn’s
health lies with the mother. It’s
amazing how women who smoke
cannot realize the potentially dan
gerous situations they are placing
their unborn children in when they
light up a cigarette.
What’s even more ridiculous is
how a pregnant women can pull
out a cigarette, light it up, take a
drag and not even notice the
mandatory health warning printed
by the surgeon general. That is, un
less all pregnant women are illiter
ate, nicotine-addicted morons,
which I’m sure is not the case.
It’s high time female smokers
took a stand for themselves and
the health of their newborn ba
bies. For nine months these
women smoke, and for every ciga
rette they light, for every puff they
take, their unborn children are
brought closer to living a life
plagued with health problems.
Women may never stop smok
ing, and this is totally acceptable.
What is not acceptable is the way
pregnant women endanger the
lives of children who have no
choice in deciding if they wish to be
born under a blanketing cloud of
cancerous smoke.
Of course, prenatal smoking is not
the only way mothers are harming the
s. Although al
coholism and hard-core drug abuse
statistics of pregnant women fluctu
ate, these problems may never
cease to exist. As long as one moth
er drinks a liquor product or en
gages in illegal drug usage, the
health of newborns will contin
ue to be in danger.
But a mother has every
right to smoke a cigarette or
drink a whiskey sour. What
she does not have the
right to do is contami
nate her child’s future
health. It’s time for
pregnant women
smokers to wake up
and take a good look
into the eyes of their
newborn babies,
crying at the top of
their lungs and
twitching wildly in
a glass incubator.
X
3b
%
4
i'Z?
Campus traffic confounded by Ross Street repairs
Students' saftey jepordized by inaffectual maintainance of sinking street
A s Texas A&M students
have probably noticed,
Ross Street has been
closed for quite some time.
Ross Street is the one that
runs from the Fish Pond past
the Chemistry building east to
ward Texas Avenue. The section
that is closed runs from the
Bus Stop snack bar to the Pe
troleum Engineering building.
The closing of this street
has changed the bus routes on
the north side of campus and
caused inconvenience to all
who travel in that area.
It is frustrating enough that a street
must be closed for some improvements
to be made, but it is even worse in this
case because it appears that nothing
has been done to the street since it was
closed. The University simply blocked it
off and left it there apparently without a
Columnist
Robby Ray
Junior speech
communication major
plan for its repair.
There is no question as to
whether the street should
have been closed; anyone
who has ever driven on it can
tell that it is in desperate need
of repair.
The question is why noth
ing is being done to fix it.
Standing on,the street and
looking at it, students can tell
that one lane is not level. That
one simple observation shows
that either one half of the
street is sinking, or the other
half is rising.
Given the lack of seismic or volcanic
activity in this area, it seems more logi
cal to assume that it is sinking.
It is possible that there is erosion
from utilities beneath the street that is
weakening the foundation of the
roadbed. Any time that there is talk
about subsurface erosion, though, im
ages come to mind of 20 foot deep
sinkholes in city streets swallowing
large vehicles with no
advance warning.
These sinkholes are
caused when water
gets underneath the
road surface and be
gins to wash away the
soil supporting it. The
flow of water can be a
mere trickle, yet over
many years, can wash
away enough dirt to
create a large hole under the road, un
detectable. This makes the road weaker
and weaker until it collapses under the
weight of traffic.
It certainly seems possible that ero
sion of sufficient magnitude could
cause the entire roadbed to slowly sink,
as Ross street is now doing.
They (the Physical
Plant) really don't
know what [Ross
street] looks like
beneath the asphalt.
The Texas A&M Physical Plant said,
after a lengthy selection process, the
University has recently hired an engi
neering firm to perform
some preliminary explo
ration and find out why
the street is sinking. While
insisting that the road is
safe, the Physical Plants
admitted that they really
don’t know what it looks
like beneath the asphalt
until engineers do exca
vations. The road was
closed because it is extreme
ly irregular and could cause damage to
some vehicles.
Work on the street is supposed to be
gin this week, although as of this dead
line, there was no apparent evidence of
it. When they are finished, we will all
find out what is wrong, and how long it
will take to fix it.
Students must vote
TV a tt or face losing rights
1 M I can honestly see why Alex
Educated voting
improves campus
I beg the students not to take
the advice posed in Alex Wal
ters’ March 18 column.
By listening to him, students
will become one step closer to
having the same apathy on
campus as other universities.
We take pride in our involve
ments and our organizations.
Please take the time to con
tinue to care.
I agree that we should not
merely vote for the first per
son listed on the ballot, but
instead of not voting, learn
about the candidates and cast
an educated vote.
Although there are power hun
gry individuals in every organiza
tion, there are also people who
care. The candidates are aware of
the problems in Student Govern
ment, and they have proposed so
lutions. If students want to change
SGA, we must vote for a candidate
that has the greatest potential to
make those drastic improvements.
I urge students to make a deci
sion based not on the signs and
pamphlets, but rather by listen
ing to and meeting the candi
dates at the debate.
Tracey McAllister
Class of’96
I can honestly see why Alex
Walters feels betrayed and be
wildered by the Student Gov
ernment Association.
However, I don’t agree with
the notion that the entire uni
versity should become an apa
thetic blob when it comes to
election time.
As educated people, stu
dents should research the can
didates and find the best man
or woman for the job.
If the student body truly
does its homework and takes
an interest in student govern
ment, it can keep the unquali
fied out of office.
Students have a great re
sponsibility to the University.
If they are not happy with the
people on the ballot, they should
write someone in that would
take the job seriously and would
not use it as a pillar of popularity
for khaki groupies everywhere.
Keep in mind if we don’t use
our vote we will lose our vote.
Steven Baskerville
Class of’97
Candidates simply
seeking popularity
“Express Yourself: Don’t
Vote.” It’s about time some
body said it.
Alex Walters lashing out
against these campus phonies
was one of the boldest and
most significant statements in
recent memory. Just looking at
the spattering of these ridicu
lous signs all over campus
makes me want to vomit.
The intention of these “can
didates” is never to secure the
students but to see how many
corporate trade-marks they
can parody (e.g. Coca-cola,
Dallas Cowboys, Calvin Klein).
Although I know several
students in elected positions
across campus that are won
derful friends and leaders,
these people are scarce.
It only takes a look at our
less-than-illustrious sena
tors and their childish re
sponse to something as sim
ple as the Yell Leader runoff
to see why we should not
vote. Don’t support the
habit. Don’t humor them.
Don’t let the cycle continue.
Don’t vote.
Jeffrey Cranor
Class of’97
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